Habeas Corpus
by Misa Sugar
Summary: Sebastian Michaelis is on trial, and he stands before the Princes of Hell to plead his case. He is not charged with murder, nor assault, nor larceny. No. He has been charged with something far worse: The crime of compassion. Sebastian/Ciel, some sexuality
1. The Summons

Hello pretty readers. ^^ This is just a little idea I thought would be amusing to write, hopefully it will be fairly short. It starts off a bit quickly because I'm an impatient writer and this is just me messing around, really. This first chapter is short because... just wanted to write and post it. XD The rating will probably go up for possible sexuality in later chapters. Oh well. :D While reading this, pretend that the second series never happened. I HAVE seen it, I just wanted to write this and it only works if those events never occurred, haha. Please enjoy!

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><p>"Sebastian, do you know what today is?" Ciel asked his butler idly as he sorted through the day's mail, a hint of a smile playing over his lips.<p>

Sebastian thought for a moment, but no special date came to mind. "I am sorry, Young Master. I'm afraid I can't think of anything special about today."

Ciel sighed, flicking through various calling cards and business letters. "I'm surprised you don't remember. It's one year to the day that you helped me avenge my parents." He glanced at Sebastian. "And then changed your mind about taking my soul."

Oh yes. Sebastian remembered now. In the back of his mind, something wiggled uncomfortably. He had no regrets about not taking the boy's soul, really. After all, there was always time for that later and at the moment he rather enjoyed the young human's company. He'd really just been procrastinating, but suddenly there was something whispering in his mind that filled him with dread, and he wasn't sure what.

Meanwhile, Ciel had come across an odd, green-bordered envelope that was not addressed to him. "Sebastian... Who is sending you a letter?" He flipped it over, eyeing the emerald wax seal depicting a snake entwined with nine feathers. "What an odd seal..."

Sebastian paused and walked over to examine the letter in Ciel's hands. Before he could see the seal, the young Earl flipped it again, reading the sender's name aloud. "Superior Authority of the Transitioned Angelic Nemesis...?"

"It's pronounced 'Neme-seez', Young Master. It's plural." Sebastian's voice was steady, but his face was paler than usual. He waited anxiously as Ciel examined the envelope curiously.

Finally, the young male handed the letter to the butler. "Open it. I want to know what it says and who these people are."

"I know who they are." Sebastian replied, carefully breaking the wax seal. "They are The Adversary."

"The adversary?"

"With a capital A, Young Master. The Superior Authority of the Transitioned Angelic Nemesis is often shortened to its acronym, which is what it is known by in this world."

Ciel furrowed his brow. "TSAOTTAN?"

"SATAN. You don't use the articles in an acronym, Young Master."

Ciel ignored the bit about English grammar, instead staring at Sebastian with his mouth open. "You mean to tell me that's a letter from _the Devil_?"

"Of course not. That would be ridiculous, as there is no such thing as 'the Devil'. What humans think is the devil is actually a committee of powerful demons, which is known as SATAN."

"I always knew committees were evil."

"Committees are the work of SATAN."

"My point exactly." Ciel traced the rim of his teacup with a finger. "So why are they writing to you?"

In response, Sebastian opened the envelope, and unfolded the letter inside. The unnamed dread that had been fluttering in the back of his mind took form when he read what was written there. "...it's a court summons."

Ciel reached for the paper to read it. "They have courts in Hell?"

"Of course. We rebelled against the Heavenly dictatorship in order to install a democracy, it's only natural we would have a judicial system. Don't you know how many lawyers are in Hell?"

Ciel chuckled, still reaching for the paper. "Let me see."

Sebastian handed him the letter. Ciel glanced at it, made an annoyed noise, and gave it back. "It's not in English."

Sebastian smiled. "Of course not. It's not any human language."

"Well, it was addressed in English!"

"The majority of the postal service is human, Young Master."

Ciel made another annoyed sound. "What do they want you in court for, anyway?"

Sebastian paused, considering how to word his answer. "They... are displeased with my actions."

"What actions? Have you done something wrong?" Ciel eyed his butler suspiciously.

"It isn't what I've done, Young Master. It's what I haven't done." Sebastian gazed at the young earl sorrowfully. "They are bringing me before the court... because I have not consumed your soul."


	2. The Descent

Hello, it's me again! That was a quick update, wow. Well, I told you, this is just for fun. ^^ I hope you are enjoying this story. If you find it at all to your liking, or disliking, don't hesitate to leave a comment!

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><p>"I don't understand why you want to drag me along." Ciel said as Sebastian tied his shoes and straightened his clothes the morning of their departure. "It's not my name on the summons. And I doubt they'd like having a mortal in Hell." The only reason he didn't object outright was pure curiosity to see what Hell looked like, but that didn't mean he couldn't question Sebastian's judgement.<p>

"They will expect a full explanation of why I have not fulfilled the terms of the contract, which means they will expect you to be there. I'd really rather you stay here, but if I don't bring you with me, they will bring you by force and then I will be unable to help you." Sebastian rose to his feet. "And it isn't the first time a mortal has entered Hell, nor the first time that one comes out alive."

"And I will come out alive, of course."

"I will do everything in my power to assure that you do." In truth, the words meant nothing, as Sebastian knew full well. If The Adversary wanted Ciel dead, there would be absolutely nothing the butler could do about it.

Ciel ate his breakfast slowly, pondering the whole thing. He'd never imagined that Sebastian's decision would become such an issue as to land him in court, and in Hell of all places. "If this is such a big deal, why don't you just swallow my soul and get it over with? It's not like I have any right to deny you."

Sebastian inhaled and then exhaled slowly, considering his answer. "While it is generous of you to offer the option and save me the trouble of a lawsuit, it is not something I want to do."

"It's not generous," Ciel scoffed. "It's your soul anyway, by rights. You can do whatever you want with it."

"It is not what I choose to do." Sebastian repeated.

Ciel narrowed his eyes. "Why not? You seemed eager enough until the time actually came. Are you a coward?"

Sebastian smiled slightly. "Perhaps I am. I've become rather fond of you, and Hell is awfully boring."

Ciel made a derisive noise. "You're a lunatic. A demon being fond of a human is just ridiculous."

Sebastian only smiled.

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><p>The East End was a place that Ciel made a habit of avoiding, but according to Sebastian it also was the location of one of the more lax gateways into Hell. The young Earl was not surprised.<p>

He expected something quiet and inconspicuous as the gate, and so was shocked when the butler led him straight to one of the biggest, flashiest, busiest brothels in the district. Sebastian walked right up to a revealingly-dressed woman smoking a cigarette and watching everyone enter and leave the building. He greeted her politely and asked to see Lily.

"We 'aven't got anyone 'ere named Lily," the woman replied, narrowing her eyes at him.

Sebastian smiled placidly. "Perhaps 'Lilim' rings a bell, then?"

The woman made a raspy snarling noise and pulled him into the building, Ciel trailing behind. "All ye bloody fiends 're the same. Ye 'aven't got any r'spect, ye just throw 'round the Lady's name like nothin'."

She dragged them down a dark corridor to an old wooden door and pushed Sebastian at it. "There. Talk to some yer own bloody kind." She turned with a huff and Sebastian opened the door. Beyond was a seemingly bottomless flight of dank stone steps. He started down, and Ciel followed.

"Sebastian," Ciel said after about five minutes. "Who is Lilim?"

"The daughter of Lilith. She has a hand in just about every brothel there is, so the most successful ones always have a backdoor somewhere that goes down."

"Down?"

"Down."

They were quiet for another ten minutes, descending deeper into the darkness, until Ciel saw a light ahead. "Is that it?"

"Hell? Of course not, Young Master. We're barely under the surface. That's a Gatekeeper."

Sure enough, as they approached the light, Ciel saw that it was a mossy little cottage tucked into the wall, a lantern hanging just outside the door. Upon seeing the lantern, Ciel realized they had been walking in pitch dark, yet he had been able to see perfectly well. It was quite an odd thing.

Outside the little house stood a little man, as mossy as his home. He grinned at them, but it seemed unnatural. "Well look, Whiskers. Travelers." Near his feet, a creature that looked like an oversized rat-lizard hybrid hissed at them, its eyes beady and intelligent.

Sebastian bowed respectfully. "We have business in the below, Gatekeeper. Let us pass."

The Gatekeeper scrutinized them both. He finally pointed his crooked finger at Sebastian. "You may go." He pointed to Ciel next. "This one stays." He grinned lecherously at the young boy.

Sebastian narrowed his eyes and stepped protectively in front of the young Earl. "He is to come with me."

"It is a mortal. It cannot pass." The Gatekeeper eyed the pair of them and Whiskers hissed again. "Unless it has a suitable payment prepared. Then I might reconsider."

By now, Ciel had enough experience with otherworldly beings to know that they rarely wanted human currency. He wasn't going to make a fool of himself by offering it. "What would you consider a suitable payment?"

The Gatekeeper hobbled closer, lecherous grin back in place. Ciel took a quick step back and tripped on the stair, stumbling hard onto the cold stone. Sebastian stepped between them, eyes narrowed at the small man.

"This mortal is my property. The second addendum on the Statute of Infernal Imports states that a soul which is property of a demon is free to travel with him between realms without additional taxation. Let us pass."

The Gatekeeper wiped his nose and glared at Sebastian, then grinned wickedly. "Fine, pass now as you wish. But I don't expect that mortal will be yours much longer, Araziel."

Sebastian ignored him, walking past swiftly, Ciel hurrying after him. Whiskers snapped at his ankles.

"The walls are whispering, Araziel!" The Gatekeeper yelled after them. "You're a laughingstock, a fool to make the same mistake twice!" His own laughter followed them long after his light had been swallowed by the darkness.

Ciel struggled to keep up with Sebastian's long strides down the stone steps. "Why does he call you Araziel?"

Sebastian glanced at Ciel with a wry smile. "My name was not Sebastian when you summoned me. Did you think I had no other?"

Ciel blinked. In all honestly, he didn't think much about who Sebastian was before he had become Sebastian, but obviously he must have had a name. It felt odd to think of his butler as anything other than simply Sebastian. Perhaps he had never truly comprehended what it meant to be a demon, or even to have one for a servant. Now that he thought about it, it was likely that Sebastian had many masters before Ciel. Oddly, the thought caused a twinge of jealousy in the pit of his stomach and it gave him a vicious sense of comfort to remind himself that those people were all dead now.

After quite a bit more walking, Ciel broke the silence again. "How deep down are we going, anyway?"

"Lilim's gates usually lead straight to the Second Circle. We'll take the train from there."

"There's a train in Hell?"

"Oh yes. Most of Heaven's best and brightest were those who fell, and sometimes their ideas and inventions leak into the mortal world, if we don't teach them to the humans ourselves. We had trains long before you did."

Ciel thought about this. "I guess I envisioned Hell as being more old-fashioned."

"Not at all. We're more technologically advanced than you are."

"In that case, don't you have some sort of flying machine? Why must we take the train?"

Sebastian chuckled. "Unlike humans, we do not have a fascination with flight, being already capable of it. We much prefer the train. We do have some lovely submarines, though."

Ciel made an annoyed noise, obviously having been hoping for something more impressive than a mere train. "So where will the train take us?"

"It will take us to the Ninth Circle, where the capital city is located and the bureaucracy manages their affairs."

"And that's where the courthouse is?"

"Of course. Though we have some time before the trial. I have to arrange for a lawyer."

Ciel was getting quite tired, but his pride kept him from complaining. The walk hadn't seemed to affect Sebastian at all. "Who is prosecuting?"

"I don't know yet, but if the Gatekeeper knows about what's going on, that's not a good sign."

"Why not?"

"Because that means the news must be all over Hell by now. We're not likely to luck out with an amateur, every prosecutor in the Inferno will be vying for this case."

Ciel thought that didn't sound very good, but he had confidence in Sebastian.

It seemed like they walked for days before the stairway leveled out. Ciel's legs ached, and the flat ground felt surreal after taking so many downward steps.

"My God, I'm not looking forward to the walk back up," he groaned, bending over and rubbing his legs.

Sebastian didn't respond to the comment. There was a worrying thought in his mind that Ciel might never make it back here at all. He put the thought out of his head and gestured to the land around them once the young male had straightened back up.

"Welcome to Hell, Young Master."


	3. The Circles

If someone were to ask him about it later, the only thing Ciel would have been able to remember about the Second Circle was the awful weather. If a hurricane, a monsoon, and a hailstorm all combined, it would not match even a thousandth of the terribleness that was this storm. Everyone around them was being blown to and fro, hardly touching ground, yet Sebastian walked though without so much as a misstep, his hair whipping around his face. He had an iron grip on Ciel's arm as they walked, but the boy didn't complain. Somehow he felt sure that if the demon let go, he too would be blown away by the ferocious wind.

They walked for a good fifteen minutes over the rocky ground, Sebastian sure-footed and Ciel stumbling along. After a time, they came to a rectangular hole in the ground with a flight of stairs leading down, cut into the rock. Ciel groaned.

"More stairs?"

"This is a short flight." Sebastian replied, leading the younger down. It was indeed a short flight, and certainly a relief to get out of the wind. At the bottom was a heavy metal gate that blocked further entry. A woman behind a glass window to their left summoned them over.

She ignored Ciel entirely, instead focusing on Sebastian. The young Earl found this irritating; he wasn't used to coming second to his servant. But down here, the rules were different.

"Name and title?" The woman inquired.

"Araziel, Margrave of Hell presiding over the northwest border of the Ninth Circle, formerly of the Order of Thrones."

She picked up a small magnifying glass that appeared to have a light glowing inside it and slid the glass window open. "I'll need to see your identification." Ciel was fascinated by the object in her hand, and stared at it with interest.

Sebastian leaned over the heavy desk she sat at, eyes wide and glowing bright pink. She used the glass in her hand to examine his left eye, then pulled back with a nod. "That's all in order. And you'll be taking the soul with you?"

It took Ciel a moment to realize they were talking about him, and he didn't like it. Sebastian gave an affirmative answer while Ciel glared at the world.

The woman opened the heavy metal gate so they could pass through. "What circle are you headed for?"

"Ninth. Are there any delays?"

"Express track's been blocked in Fourth, you'll have to take the local and change trains."

Sebastian cursed, which Ciel had never heard him do before. "What's caused the blockage?"

"Nothing to be unexpected. The occupants of Fourth were fighting on the tracks and some bags split. Track's buried in coins."

Sebastian sighed. "But the express track is clear beyond that?"

"From what I've heard. The local's to be here in another few minutes, you can have a seat over there." She indicated a heavy stone bench inside the station. Sebastian thanked her and the two of them sat down.

"So, the train is underground?" Ciel had never encountered such a thing before; it was quite fantastic.

"For the most part. Fewer obstructions that way, though sometimes accidents do happen. Like in Fourth currently."

"Fourth?"

"The Fourth Circle of Hell, where those who indulged in greed are punished."

"How are they punished?"

"They fight for eternity by throwing giant money bags at each other."

"...You're joking."

"I wish I was."

They waited quietly for another few moments for the train to arrive, and it did shortly, speeding into the station. It was quite unlike any train Ciel had ever seen, sleek like a bullet and painted a lurid metallic green. They boarded and he took all the unfamiliarity in with wonder.

The only other two occupants were a pair of female demons who stopped their gossiping the moment Sebastian and Ciel stepped into the train. They picked up their hushed conversation a moment later, throwing glances at the two every now and then. Sebastian and Ciel sat down in a seat facing away from the other two passengers, pointedly ignoring them.

"So where are we going first? A lawyer?"

"No, we'll be going to my home first. It's not too far from the train station."

This piqued Ciel's interest. He'd never thought about where Sebastian lived. "What's your home like?"

"Well, it's a bit hard to describe, really."

"Is it big?"

"No. About average for one of the Fallen."

They were interrupted at this moment by a smiling demon with slick black hair that presented them with a variety of delicious-looking refreshments, most of which Ciel was surprised to discover that he recognized. His stomach growled and suddenly breakfast seemed like a very long time ago.

"Would you like something to refresh yourself?" He ignored Sebastian, instead directing his dazzling smile at Ciel. After feeling throughly snubbed by the woman behind the desk, he felt quite gratified by this. And the man had such a nice smile.

But before Ciel could take any of the proffered snacks, Sebastian grabbed his wrist tightly. "We won't be needing any of that."

"But surely the young man is hungry after such a tiring journey." The sparkling smile widened enticingly and Ciel felt a flare of annoyance at Sebastian.

"Yes, I am. I'm quite hungry." He reached again and once again the butler grabbed his wrist, holding it so he couldn't move. Ciel glared at him, trying to jerk his hand away. "What the hell are you doing?"

Sebastian gave Ciel a thoroughly irritated look, which he'd rarely done before. Shocked by this, the younger stopped struggling. Sebastian looked back at the other demon. "We don't need anything. Leave."

Seeing that he wasn't going to get past the protective Fallen, the other demon retreated, but not before cooing to Ciel, "If you do need anything, don't hesitate to ask!" with a conspiratorial wink.

As soon as he was gone, Ciel reeled on Sebastian, ready to let him have it, but he stopped short at the look in Sebastian's eyes.

"Young Master, with all due respect, have you learned nothing about demons? Even basic mythology?" Sebastian was obviously disgusted at what, to him, was clearly a display of completely moronic behavior.

"Of course I have!" Ciel snapped, not really knowing what Sebastian was talking about, but not ready to admit it.

"Then of course you know that eating anything from the underworld will trap you here, correct?"

"...of course I knew that." Ciel sulked. "I was making sure you hadn't forgotten that you're supposed to protect me."

Sebastian chuckled, all smiles now, barely masking his irritation. "Of course. It is my duty to protect you from stupid decisions."

Ciel opened his mouth to lash out with a snarky reply, but another demon had just entered the car and Sebastian had turned his attention to the newcomer instead. "Ah, Mephistos! How is your Father?"

The demon, Mephistos, turned to look at them and Ciel recoiled slightly. Mephistos had beautiful, wavy white-blonde hair past his shoulder blades and flawless ivory skin. But his eyes were an endless, soul-sucking black that stood out from his fair complexion, as if they were black holes that had sucked all the color out of his face. His eyes locked on Ciel emotionlessly before turning to Sebastian and closed as he bowed respectfully.

"Lord Araziel, what a surprise. My Father is quite well, thank you." He smiled, but it was distant.

"Still on the council? We may need a bit of his sway." Sebastian smiled back, warmly.

Mephistos chuckled. "Of course he is. But you know how it is. If you want his vote, you need Lord Leviathan's vote."

"Levi? I'm not worried about him. He adores Zariel."

Mephistos looked distant again, almost bored. "Oh, I don't think Lord Leviathan adores anyone. Except perhaps Father. But good luck to you."

"Thank you." Sebastian, sensing Mephistos was ready to leave, waved him away. "You are dismissed, of course."

"Thank you for the honor." Mephistos didn't sound thankful or honored, but nobody pointed it out. He bowed again and walked away.

"Who the hell was that?" Ciel snapped, patience wearing awfully thin. "Who the hell are all these people you're talking about? Leviathan? Zariel? Keep me informed, why don't you!"

Sebastian chuckled. "Keeping you informed about all the inner workings of Hell would take centuries to explain. Leviathan is a member of the council we will be appealing to. The council makes up the heart of S.A.T.A.N. Asmodeus, who is the father of Mephistos, is another member of the council."

"And who is Zariel? Another council member?" Ciel was mostly unimpressed.

"Of course not. The council members are all Fallen. Zariel is a Nephilim. The first Nephilim, actually."

"Explain what a Nephilim is." All this new information was frustrating. Why couldn't Sebastian just tell him everything flat-out?

"A demon born of the union between a human and an angel or demon. Zariel was the first, born of an angel and a human. It caused quite a scandal." Sebastian smiled, amused at the memory.

Ciel snorted. "Trust an angel to be the moron to knock up some human and give birth to some mutant demon baby. Typical idiotic..." He caught the look on Sebastian's face. "What?"

"Zariel is my firstborn."

"Don't be ridiculous." Ciel replied dismissively. Sebastian didn't have children, of course he didn't. "You said it was an angel."

"And I was an angel at one time, if you recall. I am a Fallen, not a common demon." Sebastian's tone was slightly frosty. "And Zariel is not a mutant in any way."

He almost sounded offended. Ciel couldn't even remember a time he had heard Sebastian sound like that. Obviously this Zariel was important to him; well of course he was, being his firstborn son. But even knowing that, Ciel felt a twinge of jealousy that there was another creature in existence that Sebastian cared for as much as himself, or more so, that wasn't a cat. But that was silly, of course. They were master and servant. King and knight. Owner and dog. Why should he be concerned about who Sebastian cared about at all? It was just a surprise because he wasn't used to thinking about Sebastian having a life outside serving Ciel, but of course he must have family. Or something like it. That's all it was. Just surprise.

"So," Ciel said after an awkward moment. "You have a son. What does he do?"

"Normally, he's a skilled assassin and warrior. One of the best in Hell, truthfully." Sebastian's impeccable posture became impossibly straighter. He was clearly very proud of his son. "But currently he's running the clan while I'm contracting."

"Clan? What clan?"

"My clan, of course, Young Master. All my sons." Sebastian smiled, amused at Ciel's expression.

"Exactly how many sons do you _have_?"

"Thirteen thousand, four hundred and sixty-eight. Though it's probably increased since I've been gone."

Ciel stared at him in shock. "Thirteen_ thousand_?"

"And four hundred and sixty-eight, yes."

"That's impossible. You can't possibly have that many children."

Sebastian chuckled. "Actually, I have quite a few more if you include all my daughters. But they belong to different clans. But actually, they aren't all mine."

"Then whose are they?" Ciel felt rather irritated and he wasn't sure why.

"My sons' sons, of course. And my sons' sons' sons. And so on. Humans call them grandsons, but we do not. Within the clan, they are all brothers, and I am their Father."

"Why don't they just go off and start their own clans?"

"Because only Fallen may have clans." Sebastian was beginning to weary of this.

Ciel, sensing Sebastian was losing patience with his questions, fell silent. He had already asked many of the questions he wanted to know anyway. Except one, and that one he was far too proud or cowardly to voice. If Sebastian had all these children, who was their mother? Or, more to the point...

_...does Sebastian have a lover?_


End file.
